Thursday, February 04, 2010

Countdown: Best Baseball Movie of All Time #5

The back drop is the mid 70s. It's hot, its summer, its laziness in Southern California; and there is a group of little league players with no direction in baseball (or life) and no coach. In comes Buttermaker: an alcoholic, ex-minor league pitcher, and pool cleaning man. His job: to turn this team around; which seems impossible because they can't even record an out on their first game.So Buttermaker recruits Amanda Whurlitzer, the daughter of his ex-girlfriend. She is a baseball 'phenom' with a fast ball that puts boy pitchers to shame. He also finds a home run hitting, cigarette smoking bad-boy, Kelly Leak, to help the team. With Amanda and Kelly on the Bear's side, the team starts to win games and eventually ends up in the Championship game against their heated rival: The Yankees coached by Turner. The championship game is a big battle and the stress brings out the competitive side of both Buttermaker and Turner. Turner, scolds his son on the mound and the tide begins to turn for the Bears and Buttermaker takes advantage. He pushes Amanda and has Kelly take control of the whole outfield while he ignores the rest of the team. During the game, Buttermaker realizes that it is 'just a game' and although they want to win, he brings out the best in his character by letting 'bench' or weaker players take the field.Such a classic Baseball Movie. The remake that they put out recently sucks. Why the Hell do they try to remake moviews just for money purposes. You put a blemish on the original. Tomorrow is #4's.